tid bits

photo by me. Gray at almost 6 months. AKA this morning.

-someone slept for 6 hours straight last night!
-Gray loves peas. loves them more than anything. Hates bananas, apple juice and peaches. tolerates applesauce.
-Destry decided he likes carrot sticks. Ate three whole carrots yesterday.
-we're still looking for a house. the one with the fantastic fire pit is right out. (darn.)
-it snowed?? Uh, we're ready for spring around here. Sorry winter, you missed your appointment. Please reschedule for next year.
-it was my dad's bday yesterday. I helped my mom make a cake and cupcakes then had to miss the party for our loan closing appointment. sad day. but good day. but sad still.
-has anyone read the "shampoo-free" approach to hair care? Also known as "poo-free" which is hilarious. You think they'd try to find a more pleasing name for something people see as freaky to begin with. Its all over pinterest/blogland. I tried cleaning my hair with the baking soda/water solution and the apple cider/water concoction. Seems to be working alright. I just wonder if anyone has any input. (and my motivation has nothing to do with trying to lower my footprint on the world or saving sulfates or whatever. Its cheap. dirt cheap. and I'm tired of paying 30 bucks for good shampoo--and I refuse to use crappy grocery-store stuff. its way worse than what the baking soda's been doing so far.)
-we're thinking about making some day trips for vacations here in about a month. Kolt has to work like a crazy man these next few weeks. Any good ideas?  Has anyone camped out at the Grand Canyon? I know its more than a simple day trip but that would be a fun weekend.
-I love it when the very first song on my Pandora station is awesome-sauce.  Makes my morning happy.

the end.

wonderful wedneday

did some r and r today during nap time (that wasn't actually resting. sometimes a gal wants to do more than just nap.)

I can't decide how I feel but sometimes you just gotta stick it on the wall and look at it for a bit. I like the colors. The concept came from this fantastic painter and if I had money I would buy her art. Instead I tried my hand at flowers inspired by my bridal bouquet.  She's better but she's been at it a bit longer than I have. I think I'll revisit it in another medium next time.

shagalicious

just thought I'd share this beauty with the class. Possible option for a great entertainment space. hahaha  ohhh man.

yes. this is the basement of a house for sale 'round these parts. too funny.

Indulge me for a bit

Today I feel like having some cheese with my whine. I just read a blog that whined a bit and I realized that's how I'm feeling. weird.

Ever think to yourself, "This decision is SO IMPORTANT." and then you step back and realize its really not very important at all. But sort of along the lines, "we could live in a cardboard box and be happy if we wanted. We just have to make the most of the situation." meh.

So, to push aside this weird conundrum of emotions, I'm going to make these and watch some tv.

the end.

and some art because who wants to listen to my poor me problems

tiny turtle

I organized my fabric stash the other day and I decided I needed to do something with my box 'o' scraps.
meet tiny turtle:



someone took to him instantly. (actually he sat on my lap trying to eat him while I was still sewing him up.)

cozy coupe parking only

some art

I painted this a while ago and only just got ok with sharing it.

the scan is a bit off on the colors but o-well.

Happy Valentine's Day

photo by me

I'm a cute little muffin face

 and another because I can:

Family Photo Winter

have I told you we set a goal this year to take four family pictures? We did. So far we've done Summer:

thank you ben for taking this one for us!

Fall:

and sweet rachel took this one for us on Gray's blessing day.

and today we did our Winter:

photo by Kolt. location decided by me. oh yeah.

We went up a few weeks ago and there was waaaay more snow. Good thing we decided to go today. might not have snow for much longer. And we even saw some mountain goats! No joke. it was nuts.

So yeah. I totally suggest taking on four family photos this next year. We started with summer but only because that's when I got the crazy idea.  We're displaying them in a big grouping on our wall. Perhaps if we keep up with it we'll just rotate the new ones in. I dunno. haven't got there yet...

Preschool week 5

preschool sorta took a hiatus last week. but we had some good weather and a few trips out of the house so it wasn't really needed either.

This week we're playing catch-up.

E is for Egg




I've been saving my eggshells for about a week now, washed them out and let them dry. Today I gave them to Des and told him to go for it. And he did. And he loved it. I really hope he doesn't translate this activity into breaking the whole eggs we have in the fridge (and counter. Our chickens are egg-laying machines with this nice weather. Eggs anyone? Farm fresh so you don't have to refrigerate.)
After he was all done crushing them, I had him wash his hands well, which turned into "I wanna wash my hands all by myself and you leave, mommy." Which is Des for, "I wanna play in the kitchen sink unobserved." But luckily, we're cool with that so he was happy.
We also played a game of "find the letter E" where I cut out some letter E's and hid them around the living room. 
And now I've shoved him outside for some quality time with nature. So far he's stolen his neighbor buddy's bike and come back to yell, "MOMMA! MOMMA! MOMMA!" through the front door.  Good times.

an impromptu birthday cake

sometimes things get a little silly around here. like when des decides he wants a birthday cake with candles (his uncle Todd is having a birthday cake tomorrow) today and I say OK. So we make a cake. and put on candles. and sing happy birthday. and the two year old is the happiest little guy ever.

Tell you what, it sure does take the pressure off baking a cake for a birthday when its only a pretend birthday. uneven layers? meh. cake not entirely cooled before frosting? we like it gloopy anyway.  :D

and those specks are strawberry chunks, not cake bits. not that the cake was professional by any means but you know. I have my limits. also note the fingerprints in the heart design on top. At one point he even put his mouth on the cake when it was cooling. shhh don't tell. I mostly just giggled (then kindly reminded him to NOT put his mouth on the cake. others were going to eat this too. to which he ran away crying. *sigh* it was nap time.)

Happy groundhog's day.